MNR Walleye Catch OK

Ice fishing success on Lake Nipissing appears to be the best it's been in recent years despite netting studies indicating a big drop in adult walleye.

More commonly called pickerel, many locals and visitors have been complaining for several winters about not catching their limit. The fish they do pull up are too small, they say, or they're only catching perch, ling, herring and whitefish — species “pickerel lovers” consider a nuisance.

But this year, a slightly different story is being told by ice hut inhabitants are still hauling out keepers six weeks into the winter season. Usually the fishing is tougher in February when the deep chill sets in and the walleye migrate or bite less.

A random visit to Deepwater Point on the south shore this weekend found plenty of fish laying on the ice waiting for the skillet — including a freshly caught 27-inch walleye and a few smaller cousins mixed in with a nice mess of perch.

Shawn Degagne of Idle Tyme Fishing Camp said his customers are happy with their success and already booking for next year. Along with the approximate six-pounder caught by Trent Cowey, of Belwood, Ont., he said another person caught a near-record ling weighing almost 15 pounds.

An online invite at Nugget.ca for more comments was answered by Jeff Chalkley's Sandy Bay Resort, reporting that five customers caught 29 pickerel on the weekend — including a 25-inch keeper brought up by Mike Currie.

Lake Nipissing's walleye fishery is officially considered stressed by biologists, although the numbers of small walleye are somehow increasing exponentially.

But the North Bay Ministry of Natural Resources isn't ready to comment on the issue, other than to say a comprehensive review is ongoing and results will be released later this year.

Nipissing First Nation, which operates a commercial fishery including gill netting after the spring spawn, is also keeping quiet on the issue.

Calls from The Nugget concerning a report on a summit held last fall involving Lake Nipissing stakeholders were not returned.

Nipissing First Nation reduced its quota by 10% two years ago when the initial FWIN data showed a sharp drop in adults.

Commercial netters, however, haven't caught their quota for the past two years, The Nugget has been told, although it's not clear why.

Some summer anglers, on the other hand, say it has more to do with knowing where to fish and when.


Tom Broz, of Flamborough, Ont., and Jason Radjija, of Kitchener, said they've been fishing Nipissing summer, fall and winter for decades.

They were each jigging two holes in one of Idle Tyme huts Saturday morning, with two walleye and a couple big perch already on the ice outside.

“It's slower than yesterday,” Broz said, with 47 perch kept from Friday's haul, with eight small pickerel thrown back.

Radjija said he brought up a “gigantic” herring as well, although both of them prefer the sweet meat walleye offers.

Degagne said business is brisk this year. He may be benefiting from thin ice on Lake Simcoe forcing people to venture further north.

Degagne also said there's walleye to be caught if you're in the right spot at the right time of year.

Radjija and Broz agreed, describing how they were catching them steady this fall after targeting a “cabbage patch” of weeds with a specific strategy.

And Broz said he knows a good summer spot near the Manitou Islands, recalling how he caught and released 20 slot-size pickerel there in the fall.

Lake Nipissing regulations, based on the fishery being stressed, requires anglers to return walleye between 15.7 inches and 23.6 inches.

But they both agreed a long snowmobile excursion wasn't what they came up north to do in the winter, preferring to go with “luck” in a 35-foot bowl near Deepwater Point.

Degagne said it is usually harder to catch walleye in February, although it's usually colder than it has been this year.

Cowey, of Belwood, Ont., near Orangeville was happy Saturday morning after pulling up his 27-inch walleye.

“I come up every year,” Cowey said, adding he usually releases big walleye but his friends convinced him to keep this one for dinner.

walleye and perch

Interesting read....

Personally, we have not caught many in the slot this year...most are below...this concerns me somewhat.

I have a theory, but it would not be politically correct

Here is a link to the story.
http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3463937

nippissing first nation isnt saying anything because they cant control anything! i camp near the mouth of the french and they park a house boat in the bay for days at a time till the freezers are full then return to sturgeon and unload! those fish are not recorded in the quota! the reason for the smaller fish and real big ones is simple! the little ones swim through the gil nets and the big ones are to big to get in! hopefully the big ones keep spawning because the slot fish we throw back are generally the perfect size for the gil nets! i love fishing there and hope there predictions are wrong! i have heard the lake will be dead in 5 years!

Very interesting article. I just got back from Nipissing. This was our third year going up. This year was the best for us for Walleye as the two previous we didn't catch any. I had heard the lake was being over-fished by nets. We were actually thinking of going elsewhere if this year didn't pan out to be a good one. This year between the six of us we did get a dozen, all under slot size. We actually use Idle Time outfitters mentioned in the article. Shawn and Terra are very pleasant and great to deal with. Good service dropping by the huts all day to make sure things are good. Always a good supply of minnows and clean huts. He skirts or boards his huts around the bottom to cut down on drafts and shovels the snow, if there is any, around the huts as well. His new six man huts are quite nice too and pretty spacious.